Resetting interlock for fluid dispensing pumps



Aug. 9, 1938. w. H. D. BROUSE ET AL RESE'I'TING INTERLOCK FOR FLUIDDISPENSING PUMPS Filed Sept. 17, 1936 Patented Aug. 9, 1938 UNITEDSTATES PATENT OFFICE.

RESETTING INTERLOCK FOR FLUID DIS- PENSING PUMPS Ontario, CanadaApplication September 17, 1936, Serial No. 101,245

13 Claims.

The principal objects of this invention are to provide a. resettingdevice which cannot be operated while the pump is operating indispensing, nor until the dispensing valve is returned to itsnon-operating position, so that failure to shut off the pump motor or toreturn the dispensing valve, definitely prevents the resetting andconsequent progress of manipulation of the pump.

A further and important object is to provide a locking device which isextremely simple in its construction and not expensive to manufactureand which can be readily adapted to difierent forms of registeringmechanism.

The principal features of the invention consist in the novelconstruction and arrangement of a latch device connected with the pumpmotor switch and the means for supporting the distributing valve or hoseand a rotatable member operated by the shaft for resetting the gaugingor indicating mechanism and adapted to control the movement of saidlatch to positively prevent the operation of the dispensing pump switchuntil the indicating mechanism has been reset to the zero position, thelatch mechanism being provided with a toggle device adapted to hold thelatch clear of the rotatable locking member during its rotatingmovement.

In the accompanying drawing, Figure 1 is an elevational view of myimproved resetting interlock showing its operative connection with thepump motor switch and the dispensing valve support.

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the structure illustrated in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is an elevational view of the latch mechanism showing thetoggle device in interlocked relation with a member which controls thepump motor switch.

Figure 4 is an elevational view of the latch mechanism showing thetoggle member in the released position.

Figures 5 and 6 are elevational details of the pair of discs for lockingthe latch mechanism.

Figure 7 is an elevational detail of the dis-v pensing valve supportinghook.

Figure 8 is a longitudinal sectional view through one of the cranks foroperating the shaft of the resetting mechanism.

Figure 9 is a cross sectional view through the ratchet end of the shafttaken on the line 9-9 of Figure 8.

Figure 10 is a vertical section through the bracket and discs.

In the dispensing of liquids and particularly that of gasoline it hasbecome very important that the dispensing mechanism should be equippedwith means for protecting both the public and the owner of the stationfrom fraud through the manipulation of the pump by the operator and themost improved forms of such dispensing apparatus are equipped withvisible indicators mechanically operated by the measuring mechanismwhich indicate the exact amount of fluid that has been dispensed andnumerous devices have been applied to these mechanisms to endeavor toeliminate fraud on the part of employees.

In the form of the device herein shown a bracket i is secured in thehorizontal position between the upright members 2 which form part of theframe of the dispensing device. This bracket is provided with lug ends 3in which are journalled the aligned shafts 4. The inward ends or theshafts 4 are journalled in bearing lugs on a bracket 5 secured to andextending upwardly from the bracket I and bevelled pinions G are mountedon the inner ends of said shafts and both mesh with a bevel gear I fixedto a stub shaft 8 journalled in a bearing in the bracket 5 and arrangedin right angular relation to the axes of the shafts 4.

One end of the shaft 8 is adapted to be connected to the indicating orregistering mechanism of the pump which is not shown.

Upon the other end of the stub shaft 8, immediately outside the hub ofthe bracket 5, is' rotatably mounted a disc 9, which is formed with aparallel-sided notch ill in its periphery and a fiat notch ll spacedfrom the aforesaid notch around the periphery. This disc is alsoprovided with a hole i2.

A disc l3 having notches I4 and I5, corresponding with the notches inand H in the disc 9, is also provided with a hub I6 which is rigidlysecured to the shaft 8. The disc- I3 is also provided with a pin I!which extends into the hole i2 in the disc 9 and is of a much lessdiameter than the hole and permits a limited movement of the loose discin relation to the fixed disc a distance substantially equal to thewidth of the notch l0, so that at certain periods during the operationof the device the perimeter of the disc 9 will close the notch H of thedisc I3.

A bracket I8 rigidly secured tothe bracket 5 forms a bridge over thepair of discs 9 and I3 and supports the end of the stub shaft 8. Thisbracket also projects vertically upward as shown in Figure 4 andforms avertical guide for the latch arm l9 which is pivotally mounted on a pin20 rigidly secured in the bracket 5 at one til side of the verticalcentre line through the stub shaft and the discs carried thereby.

The latch arm I9 extends in a substantially horizontal direction acrossthe bracket 5 and the free end thereof has pivotally mounted therein arod 2I which extends downwardly to the switch of the pump motor 22,' therod extending slidably through the pin 23 of the switch and having acompression spring 24 coiled around its lower end, the rod being free toslide upwardly through the pin, the pressure of the spring serving tooperate the switch to open the circuit and stop the motor.

A block 23 is adjustably mounted on the rod 2i intermediate of itslength and is secured in adjusted positions by a suitable set screw.This block is secured to the lower cranked end 26 of a rod 21 whichextends upwardly and has an upper cranked end 23 pivotally mounted inthe inward end of an arm 29 pivotally mounted in a slotted extension 39from the bracket I. The end of the arm 29 projecting through the slottedmember 30 forms the "hook upon which the dispensing valve of thedispensing hose is supported when the pump is not in operation. The arm29 is provided with a projection 3I on its inner top side which engagesthe top of the slot and limits the upward movement of the rod 21.

It will be understood that when the dispensing valve is hung on the"hook" end of the arm 29, the inner end is lifted upwardly, pullingupwardly on the rod 21, which in turn pulls upwardly on the rod 2Ito-operate the switch to cut out the motor when the dispensing valve islifted from the hook the operator pushes upwardly on the hook, swingingit on its pivot, thereby pushing downwardly on the rod 21 andconsequently on the rod 2I to close the switch and start the motor.

The latch arm I9 is provided with a downwardly extending lug 32 which isadapted to simultaneously enter the notches I0 and I4 of the discs 9 andI3 when said notches are in alignment and when they are in alignment andin proper relation to the lug 32, a spring latch 33 in the form of aflat spring secured to a lug 34 on the bracket 5, engages the notches II and I5 of said discs, abutting the shouldered ends thereof.

The stub shaft 9 of the registering mechanism is so related to the discsthat they will be in the position described only when the registeringmechanism has been returned to the zero position.

The upward portion of the latch arm I9 is cut away to form an enlargedrecess 35, one side of which is provided with two stepped notches 36 and31 and the opposite side of the recess is formed with an upwardlysloping inward toothed projection 38.

A latch 39 pivotally mounted on a pin 40 secured in the bracket 5 abovethe latch arm I9, is provided with a squared toothed extension 40' whichis adapted to co-operate with the notches 36 and 31'and opposite thetooth 40 is a bevelled tooth H which is adapted to engage the bevelledtooth extension 38 of the latch arm when the latch 39 is moved so thatthe tooth 40 is out of the path of engagement with the projections ofthe notches 36 and 31. The latch is offset outwardly past the tooth H asillustrated in Figure 10 to pass over the latch arm I9 and to extendoutside of the outer disc I3 and the disc I3 is provided with a pin 42which is adapted, upon the rotation of the disc, to engage the latch andswing it on its pivot.

The latch 39 is provided with a notch 43 in its upper end which is inthe form of a part circular socket.

A shortlever 44 pivotally mounted on a bolt 45 secured in the bracket 5at its upper end, is provided with a rounded end 49 which extends intothe rounded notch 43, forming a toggle joint and the outer'end of thelever 44 is provided with a pin 41, to which is secured one end of acoiled tension spring 43, the other end of which is secured to a pin 49projecting from the offset end of the latch 39;

It will be seen on reference to Figures 1 and 3 that the tension of thespring 49 holds the toggle composed of the latch 39 and lever 44, sothat the tooth 40' will be held by spring tension against the notchedside of the recess 35 and that upon the lifting of the latch arm thesaid tooth will spring into the notches 36 and 31.

Upon the rotation of the discs 9 and I3 the pin 42 moves into engagementwith the offset end of the latch 39, swinging it upon its pivot andconsequently swinging the lever 44 until the spring 49 moves slightlyover the dead centre line as is illustrated in Figure 4. The spring thusholds .the latch away from the notched side of the recess, but when thelatch arm I9 is moved downwardly the bevelled tooth 33 of said latch armengages the bevelled tooth H of the latch and swings it on its pivot tothrow the spring over the dead centre and the latch then snaps back intoposition, engaging the projection above the notch 36.

The shafts 4 of the reset mechanism are each provided on their outerends with a ratchet crank 50 which is provided with a spring plunger 5|engaging an annular peripheral recess in the end of the shaft whichsecurely holds the crank on the shaft and the recess is provided with anotch 52 forming a ratchet which is engaged by the plunger when thecrank is turned in the proper direction to rotate the shaft.

. place the valve of his dispensing hose on the hook end of the arm, 29before operating the reset mechanism and by doing so he tilts the arm 29on its pivot to pull upwardly on the rod 21 and through it to operatethe rod to open the switch of the pump motor. He then turns one of thecrank members and through the reset mechanism referred to rotates "thestub shaft 8 and disc I3 fixed thereon.

The pressure of the spring latch 33 against the perimeter of the discs 9and I3 does not affect the rotation of the disc I 3, which is fixed tothe shaft 8, but it does retard the movement of the disc 9 until the pinI1 secured to the disc I3 engages the side walls of the hole I2 in thedisc 9 and the pin then causes the disc 9 to turn with the disc I 3, butthe lost motion between these two discs moves the notches I0 and I4 ,outof alignment so that the disc 9 closes the notch I4 and coincidently thenotches I I and I 5 are moved out of register the one with the other.

sition if it is turned far enough, but if the oper- V ator stops thereturn mechanism any place short of the full position of return to zero,the notch I4 will remain-closed and the latch arm cannot be moveddownwardly to start the pump motor.

It is necessary therefore for the operator to con- I tinue the operationto carry the disc l3 around until the notch ID of the disc 9 is movedinto alignment with the downwardly projecting lug 32 on the latch arm l9and in doing this the notch H in the disc I3 is carried past theengaging lug and the latch arm still cannot be operated and hisnecessary for him to release the pressure on the operating crank and thestub shaft automatically turns backward through a spring action, whichis part of the standard recording mechanism, bringing the notches II and15 into stop contact with the spring latch 33 to prevent further returnmovement and thereby arrest the discs 9 and I3 with their notches l0 andI4 in transverse alignment.

The latch arm l9 may then be swung downwardly so that its lug 32 entersthe aligned notches l0 and I4 and this downward movement starts themotor.

If the operator, after starting the motor, at-

tempts to lift the latch arm I9 through the medium of the hose hook andthe connecting rod 2 I, the latch 39 immediately snaps into the notch 36and this action occurs before the lug 32 on the latch I9 is withdrawnfrom the notches in the discs 9 and I3, consequently the operator cannotmanipulate the resetting mechanism of the indicator and if he moves thear'm I 9 still farther in order to clear the notches I0 and It torelease the indicator resetting mechanism, the tooth 40' of the latchenters the notch 31 and in this position the motor will be shut off. Itthen becomes necessary for the operator to again manipulate theindicator resetting mechanism to release the latch and he is back to theposition where he started. The arrangement of the parts is such thatlatch 40 enters notch 36 before the switch is opened and the switch isopened before lug 32 leaves notches Ill-l4. The lug 40' thereforeprevents the machine being reset and the notch 35 prevents a second downmovement of lever l9 which prevents motor being restarted until the upmovement of I9 is completed, unlatching the discs and latching 40 intonotch 31. The latch arm l9 cannot be lowered to start the motor untilthe discs 9 and 13 are revolved through one revolution of the resettingmechanism which unlatches 40 from notch 31 by the action of the pin 42on disc l3 engaging latch 39. It will be fully understood that as thislatch mechanism is enclosed within the casing of the pump standard, theoperator cannot gain access to the latch mechanism in any way todisconnect the motor-operating mechanism from it and: while the partsare connected in the manner described it becomes absolutely impossiblefor the operator to start the motor and to serve gasoline from the pumpunless the recording mechanism has been returned to zero.

It will of course be appreciated that the parts of this mechanism are ofa very simple nature and they are of such a rugged construction thatthey are notlikely to get out of order even with rough handling and itwill be remembered that the only point of contact that the operator hasis through the manipulation of the hook arm 29 whichis the only partextending beyond the easing of the pump structure.

The downward movement of this arm 29 is limited by the stop member onits inner end and its upward movement is exerted against the latch arml9 and latch 39 which are of a rugged structure and cannot be injured.

The use of a cushion spring in the connection between the motor switchand its operating rod relieves the motor switch from any undue stressand also obviates the necessity of very close ad- .iustment.

What we claim as our invention is:-

l. A resetting device for the indicator of a liquid dispenser comprisingmanually operable means for resetting the indicator, liquid dispensingcontrol means including a member displaceable to permit a dispensingoperation, means dependent on the displacement of said member forlocking the resetting means only when the indicator has been returned tozero, and means for locking the said member from displacement until theindicator is returned to zero.

2. A resetting device for the indicator of a liquid dispenser comprisingmanually operable means for resetting the indicator, liquid dispensingcontrol means including a latch arm adapted to be displaced to permit adispensing operation, manually operable means for operating said latcharm, means rotatably connected with said resetting means to interlockwith said latch arm dependent on said displacement of the latch arm, andmeans operable by said rotatable means for locking said latch arm fromdisplacement into locking engagement with said rotatable means until thereset mechanism has been returned to zero.

3. A resetting device for the indicator of a liquid dispenser comprisingmanually operable means for resetting the indicator, including a shaft,a disc mounted on and rotatable with said shaft and having a notch inthe periphery, liquid dispensing control means including a motor controlswitch, a latch arm operatively connected with said motor control switchand having a locking lug to enter the notch in said disc to lock thedisc and concurrently close the motor control switch, means for lockingsaid latch arm in a position, with its lug clear of said disc to preventclosing of the motor control switch until the reset means has returnedto zero position, and means operated by said disc for releasing saidlatch arm look when the said zero position is reached.

4. A resetting device for the indicator of a liqu d dispenser comprisingmanually operable means for resetting the indicator including a shaft, adisc mounted on and rotatable with said shaft and having a notch in theperiphery, a

second disc rotatable on said shaft also having said discs when they arebrought into align-v ment to lock the resetting means and permitdisplacement of the control means to operative position, a spring latchengaging the peripheries of said discs and operatingv to align thenotches to receive the lock portion of said control member, means forlocking said control member clear of said discs, and means connectedwith said first-mentioned disc adapted to release the latter lockingmeans when the discs are rotated to a position where their notches arealigned to receive the lock portion of said control member.

, on said shaft havingalignable notches in their peripheries, means foreffecting the aligning of said notches, a latch arm operativelyconnected with the motor control switch and having a lug to extend intothe aligned notches to'permit switch-closing displacement of the. latcharm, a latch spring' held to interlock with said latch arm to hold itraised, a pin mounted on one 01' said discs adapted to engage said latchand move it to a-release podtion, and means ior returning said latch toan interlocking position following the switch-closing movement of thelatch 6. A resetting device for the indicator of a liquid dispensercomprising manually operable means for resetting the indicator includinga shaft, liquid dispensing control means including a motor controlswitch, a pair of discs mounted on said shaft having alignable notchesin their peripheries, means for effecting the aligning of said notches,a latch arm, operatively connected with the motor control switch andhaving 9, lug to extend into the aligned notches to permitswitch-closing displacement of the .latch arm,

said latch arm being formed with an opening provided with notches in theside wall, a latch toothed to engage insaid notches, a lever having anoperative toggle connection with-said latch, a tension spring connectingthe outer ends of said latch and toggle lever, and means on the latcharm for engaging said latch to release the toggle to bring the latchinto interlocking relation with the notched portion of said latch arm.

I. A resetting device for the indicator of a liquid dispenser comprisingmanually operable meam forlresetting the indicator, a stationarybracket, a latch arm mounted on said bracket for pivotal movement only,means rotatably connected with the resetting means and arranged fordirect interlocking contact with said latch arm, a pump motor controlswitch,- a rod forming a direct operative connection between said switchand latch arm, a movable dispensing hose hook member, and meansconnected with said hook member for operating the switch rod coincidentwith the movement of the hook.

8. A resetting device for the indicator of a liquid dispenser comprisingmanually operable means for resetting the indicator, a latch arm, meansoperatively connected with the resetting means adapted to interlock withsaid latch arm to arrest the manualLv operable means, a pump motorcontrol switch, a rod pivotally connected with said latch arm andoperable to swing said latch arm into or out of interlock relation withsaid second-mentioned means and slidably connected with the pump switch,a compression spring encircling said rod and engaging the switch arm toform a yieldable operative connection between the rod and switch wherebythe switch will not act to limit the displacement of the rod and latcharm connected thereto, a dispensing hose "hook" member, and meansconamass? nected with said "hook and operatively connected with saidswitch rod.

9. A resetting device. for the indicator of a liquid dispensercomprising a bracket to be mounted within a dispenser pump structure, a

shaft connected with the indicator device, crankrotatable with or inrelation to said notched member to prevent or permit entry of the arm inthe notch, latching means for locking said latch arm out of contact withsaid notched looking means, and means operated by the notched 'meansrotatably connected with said resetting means to interlock; with saidlock member dependent on said displacement of the latter, and means for.delaying displacement of said lock member until the reset mechanism hasbeen returned to zero.

11. A resetting device for the indicator of a liquid dispensercomprising manually operable means for resetting the indicator, liquiddispensing control means including a lock member displaceable to permita dispensing operation, manually operable means for operating saidmember, means rotatably connected with said resetting means to interlockwith said lock member dependent on said displacement of the latter, and

means co-operatively associated with the aforesaid means having a lostmotion operative con nection with said latter means for delayingdisplacement of said lock member until the reset mechanism has beenreturned to zero.

12. A resetting device for the indicator of a liquid dispensercomprising manually operable means for resetting the indicator, liquiddispensing control means including a lock member displaceable to permita dispensing operation, manually operable means for operating saidmember, a rotatable member operatively connected with-said reset meansand having locking cooperation with said lock member on saiddisplacement thereof, and means including a second rotatable memberhaving a lost motionrotatable drive connection with the first-mentionedrotatable member and co-operating therewith and with said lock member toprevent said displacement of the latter until the reset mechanism hasbeenreturned to zero, said lost motion connection permitting thefirst-mentioned rotatable member to be manipulated a predetermineddegree relative to the other rotatable member at the completion of thereset operation.

13. A resetting device for the indicator of a liquid dispensercomprising manually operable means for resetting the indicator, liquiddispensing control means including a latch arm adapted to be displacedto permit a dispensing operation,

manually operable means for operating said latch arm, means rotatablyconnected with said resetting means to interlock with said latch armdependent on said displacement of the latch arm, and means includingtoggle means co-operatively interposed between said latch arm androtatable means and operable by said rotatable means for locking saidlatch armfrom displacement into locking engagement with said rotatablemeans until the reset mechanism has been returned to zero.

WILLIAM H. D. BROUSE.

CLIFFORD J. HUME.

